How Did Aljamain Sterling Get His Nickname ‘The Funk Master’? Meaning Behind Ex-UFC Champ’s Moniker

The former UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain “Funk Master” Sterling will make his Featherweight debut against a top featherweight prospect, Calvin Kattar at the Historic UFC 300 event. Although it wouldn’t be the first time for the former champ to move up to featherweight in his career, it would be a first for Sterling.

Sterling at 34 years old, now looks to walk on a path to become a two-divisional champion in the promotion. Despite “Funk Master” being in the UFC for over 10 years, most fight fans still don’t apprehend how the UFC star earned his fight moniker. So, without further ado, here is how Aljamain Sterling earned his moniker.

The story behind Aljamain Sterling’s nickname – ‘Funk Master’

The former UFC bantamweight champion, was an incredible wrestler back in High School as he was a 2-time All-American as per reports. Nevertheless, unlike most wrestlers, Sterling wasn’t as conventional as the others, which turned out to be the reason for the Jamaican-American getting his nickname.

Sterling once explained how he got his nickname. He stated, “My nickname is based on my fight style and grappling style from high school. So, that’s pretty much how it originated. It kind of came through being like lacking in fundamental skills in terms of wrestling, knowing how to properly shoot, knowing how to properly sprawl, and just scrambling for position and just doing weird stuff, and they called me ‘Funky’.”

However, given that the former ONE FC champion, Ben Askren already has the fight moniker of “Funky”, Sterling explained that he wasn’t too keen on sharing the nickname. This was what led him to spice up the nickname to be better suited for him.

“I didn’t want to use the same nickname as Ben Askren, so I decided to figure out something else I can work by still keeping the funk in there, and Funk Master was born,” said Sterling. However, there seemed to be a time when he showed interest in changing his fight moniker.

Also Read: Ex-UFC Champ Aljamain Sterling Confessing About His Drinking, Smoking and Other Ill Activities Make MMA Fans Go Berserk- “Made This Man Fall”

When Sterling thought of changing his nickname!

Coming off of two dominant title defenses against former UFC bantamweight champs, Petr Yan and TJ Dillashaw, Aljamain Sterling seemed unbeatable at bantamweight back during the new year of 2023.  Also taking into account his impressive 8 fight-win streaks at the time seems to have “Funk Master” wanting a new fight moniker suited for his dominance in the division.

On January 2nd, 2023 Aljamain Sterling took to X (Twitter) showing interest in making a change in his Fight Monkier. In the tweet, he wrote, “Maybe I should change my nickname – Aljamain “Main” Sterling. Or “Main Event” Sterling”

Do you believe that Aljamain Sterling has what it takes to get a win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300? Or will the move up in weight class hinder the “Funk Master’s” performance? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Also Read: Sean O’Malley’s Nickname ‘Suga’: Meaning & Story Behind UFC Champ’s Monike